Feathers of Gold: Book One: The London Facade
by PhantomRose605
Summary: Abandoned in the London streets by her father, Feather Firestone must learn to survive and learns the truth about the fine line between "Good and Evil". Better summary inside. Please review!
1. Summary and AN

Author's Note:

Summary:

To the upper crust of England's social hierarchy the poor were nothing but the steps upon which they climbed to reach the pedestals of power. Feather Firestone had been born into this society, oblivious to the reality of the harsh London streets; that is until she was sold to the Spider that made its home amongst its dark alleys. Abandoned by her own father as payment for an outstanding debt, Feather must learn to survive in the city's shady red-light district of Soho. Amongst the dirty, terrifying streets she finds an unlikely companion who shares her dreams of freedom and love. Then Feather soon finds herself dangerously close to the heart of one of the most forbidding mysteries in London history. As she struggles to find answers, Feather finally learns the truth about the fine line between "Good and Evil."

Author's Note:

My dear Readers,

Here are a few things to know before you begin reading **Feathers of Gold: Book I: The London Façade**. The year in which the story takes place is 1886 in London, England which is the same year in which the original novella _The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde_ was written by Robert Louis Stevenson. I would like to apologize to any historical fanatics if I make any mistakes in the accuracy of events, people, places, clothing, etc. during the duration of this tale. I am a fan of European and World History myself but being human I make mistakes. On that note I would also like to add that I do not appreciate flames or any rude comments directed towards myself or other reviewers, so please do NOT make any. However, feel free to leave any constructive criticism, kind comments, or questions. I love hearing from you and I hope that you enjoy my story. After all, I only write and present my work but it is up to you, my readers, to decide whether or not it is worthy of being read. Finally, in order to avoid getting sued and posting this at the beginning of every chapter:

**DISCLAIMER: I ****DO NOT**** OWN **_**The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde**_** OR **_**Jekyll and Hyde: The Musical.**_

**HOWEVER: I ****DO**** OWN **_**Feather Firestone, the Firestone Family, Jonathan Hurst, and the members of Organization XVI.**_

Now with all of that out of the way, I leave you to enjoy the journey of Feather Firestone. Thank you for your attention and don't forget to leave a review! ()

Your Obedient Authoress,

PhantomRose605


	2. Prologue

Prologue

**Prologue: September 6, 1886**

"But Feather…you can't give up! You're the only one who can help Mother and Father save their marriage." There was a small pause. "You're the only person who can help him turn away from the absinthe."

"I know Cedric, I know. I promise you I will not give up I just need a little time to rest. Their arguments and the secrets are just far too much for me to handle at the moment."

The sound of Feather Firestone's light footsteps echoed throughout the large family library. The walls were lined with thousands of books, their gold embossed titles twinkling in the dying firelight. Plush furniture surrounded the grand marble fireplace like wary soldiers while their shadows danced eerily along the bookshelves. Feather paced along the beautiful Persian rug in front of the fire her hands at her temples, thoughts scrambled. She stopped in front of the fireplace and placed her hands on the mantel, a soft sigh escaping her lips. Her younger brother, Cedric Firestone, came up behind her, casting a shadow over her small frame. Although he was only three years her junior Cedric was already towering over her, but the resemblance between the siblings was striking. They had the same almond shaped eyes and hair so dark it was almost black. In the firelight their heart shaped faces seemed haggard and miserable, the result of months of struggling against their family's tensions. Feather looked up to meet Cedric's dark chocolate brown eyes with her own. His were accusing her of giving up hope and pleading with her to try again. She glared at him, her eyes like daggers and her voice like ice.

"Do not give me that look Cedric Allan Laurent Firestone! I already told you I would not give up! What more do you want from me?!"

Cedric stumbled back at her outburst and cast his eyes downward. Although he would not admit it he sometimes feared his older sister especially when she was angry. Feather noticed his instant submission and her eyes softened. She sighed and placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. Suddenly a loud knock at the door caused them to jump apart.

"It's Papa." Feather murmured and Cedric nodded. They quickly stood at their respective places in front of the fire as their father and three other men entered the room. As their father stepped into the light Feather held back a shiver while Cedric briefly closed his eyes. Lord Charles Firestone of Brentwood was once a kind man whose eyes shone with the pride and love of his heritage, family, and work. That was not the man who stood before Feather and Cedric in the fading light. This man looked much older than his 28 years with sunken cheeks and lips stained with deadly drink. He swayed on his heels and had to steady himself on the chair before him. His dark locks, which mirrored those of his children, were askew and there was stubble on his chin which he had once again forgotten to shave. In their minds both of his children pitied the mess that stood before them. He looked down upon his two oldest children with dull brown eyes, his hand clasped tightly around a bottle of absinthe.

"Feather. Cedric." He nodded as his children paid the necessary respects to him.

"Father. Papa." The siblings murmured, curtsying and bowing. They turned to their father's guests and paid them the same respects. Feather turned to face a man far older and richer than her father. His snow-white hair was slicked back and neatly combed. His clothes shone with gold embroidery and against their wills the Firestone siblings admired his finery. He was a tall man, an inch taller than their father, and pride emanated from his every movement. His beady blue eyes darted over the thousands of volumes that graced the library shelves as if searching for the diamond among the coals. As he turned to face young Feather his eyes widened and his smile became sinister.

"Ah Miss Firestone, what a pleasant surprise! My how you've grown! A beautiful flower indeed." He swept his gaze longingly over her and his smile grew wider, "Well done Charles. Well done." Feather repressed another shiver. His voice was as smooth as silk but it chilled her to the bone. She shifted her weight in an attempt to dispel her uncomfortable feelings and forced a smile.

"Thank you very much, Monsieur Belmont. It is good to see you again."

"Yes, yes Joseph. It is so kind of you to visit," murmured Charles, his eyes downcast. Belmont smiled again and walked up to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. He leaned into Lord Firestone's ear and whispered,

"Now Charles about that little bit of business I spoke to you about."

"Yes of course…Feather. Come here child." Feather hesitated. There was something wrong. Her father, sober or not, never spoke to her without meeting her eyes. She turned to Cedric who was also watching the proceedings with wary curiosity and he gave her a slight nod. "NOW CHILD!" Feather flinched but quickly appeared by her father's side.

"Yes sir?" she whispered, her head bowed. She felt her father lean into her and place a small kiss on her forehead. She looked up in surprise and saw tears coursing down his cheeks.

"Goodbye my little Feather. Forgive me…"

"Wha—" Feather began but she would never finish. Suddenly she was roughly lifted off her feet and was looking down upon her brother and father from the broad, muscular shoulders of one of Belmont's men. Her piercing scream echoed throughout the rest of the house.

"HELP! CEDRIC! PAPA! HELP ME!!"

"FEATHER! I'M COMING!" Cedric tackled the man holding his sister and succeeded. Feather and the man fell to the floor with a crash hard enough to break her mother's prized antique Chinese desk. The man quickly regained his senses but Feather was faster. She was halfway to the door when a second man violently grabbed her from behind. She heard footsteps racing toward her and turned her head to see Cedric coming for her. He was a few feet away when his head suddenly snapped backward. She gasped as she saw her father's fist buried in his stomach. His eyes widened with shock and he tried to lash out at Charles but to no avail. He searched for Feather's face and after he found it allowed the comforting darkness to envelope him. The moment Cedric hit the floor Feather screamed again, tears coursing down her cheeks. Her gaze traveled from her brother's body to her father's dull eyes.

"Cedric…Papa how could you?!" she cried. She tried to race toward him but the man held her in a vice grip. She struggled and screamed, kicking and punching at him but her efforts were in vain.

"Crazy little—" the man growled, slathering Feather's beautiful face with a foul wind. Her as her eyes watered she gagged and he gave a sinister chuckle.

"Exactly what I was thinking, dearie!" He pulled a damp, dirty rag from his pocket and stuffed it into her mouth. Her screams became muffled whimpers as he roughly tied the rag around her head. Suddenly the door to the library burst open and in a maelstrom of robes, pajamas, and stuffed animals the rest of the Firestone family came rushing in.

"FEATHER! CEDRIC!" cried their mother, Juliette, and their three younger siblings.

"Mama!" Feather tried to scream but then her vision began to blur. She heard her younger siblings race toward her, their little feet pitter-pattering across the polished hardwood floor. She shook her head again and fought the darkness that was threatening to drown her.

_No…stay back! Stay back! Eldon! Rosalie! Tatiana! STAY BACK!_ Her mind told her to scream but her body would not comply. She felt tired and sluggish and with horror she watched as her captor's chest, which was below her jaw, sank down to her eye level.

_NO! NO! I'VE BEEN DRUGGED!_ Indeed she was, she could smell the poisonous fumes of the chloroform on the rag around her nose and mouth and she could taste it on her tongue. She shook her head in an attempt to free her body from its paralysis.

"FEATHER, GET AWAY! RUN!" Eldon, her youngest brother, had fallen to his knees beside his older sister's captor and was pounding the man's head with Leopold, her youngest sister, Tatiana's, beloved stuffed elephant. Suddenly Eldon was no longer by Feather's side but slumped against one of the bookshelves with his eyes closed and volumes fluttering from their shelves to settle around him.

"YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Enraged Feather's captor had grabbed Leopold while it was still in Eldon's hands and had thrown the boy across the room. In that moment, her captor's arms had released their hold on her and although her body felt like lead, Feather took the opportunity to break away from him.

_ELDON! NO!!_ She slowly crawled toward her younger brother but now the dreaded darkness was coming closer and closer. She turned her head and saw her mother frantically trying to break through her father's iron grip. Her younger sisters were sobbing in the arms of her first captor, their little bodies shaking like leaves. She could hear their desperate cries of, "Feather! Eldon! Cedric!" but they knew there was nothing they could do. She struggled to clear her vision but it was too late; she could no longer fight its creeping grasp. With a muffled cry of despair Feather allowed her drugged and broken body to sink to the cold hardwood floor. Behind their human prisons her family gasped. Suddenly the ground below her rumbled and she could hear thunder through the floor boards. In her intoxicated state she prayed that it was a large rock rolling through her beloved library to take her, an Angel of Death ready to end her misery. Instead she was once again roughly thrown over her captor's shoulder like a sack of grain.

"I apologize for the damage to your furniture, Lady Firestone. I shall send a check to pay for it soon." She heard Belmont say and inside she was disgusted for she could hear the smile in his voice. There was a slight pause. "It was a pleasure doing business with you, Charles. Enjoy the rest of your evening." For a moment she felt a velvet hand caress her own, but then it was gone. Joseph Belmont proudly strode out of the Firestone Estate, his two men closely behind him. The dark depths that Feather Firestone had fought for so long quietly welcomed her as she was taken away from the only world she ever knew.


	3. Soho's Spider

Chapter One: Soho's Spider

**Chapter One: Soho's Spider**

Darkness. Total and utter darkness surrounded Feather as she struggled to awake from her drugged sleep. As her chocolate eyes opened she raised her hand to her eyes only to find that she was bound by leather thongs and was lying on her side in an uncomfortable position. Suddenly the terrible events of the previous night came rushing back and she panicked. Her eyes snapped open and her scream of terror was muffled by the rag in her mouth. She searched the endless, silent darkness, her eyes darting frantically back and forth. Suddenly a low chuckle pierced the silence. A match was struck, its soft glow illuminating the sinister face of Joseph Belmont.

"Finally awake I see. Good morning, Miss Firestone." A wicked smile twisted his features and Feather repressed a shiver. If looks could kill Feather's glare would have pierced Belmont through the heart in an instant. Her eyes were sharp, icy daggers and, had she not been bound and gagged, she would have spat on him and strangled him with her own bare hands.

"Now, now my dearest…you mustn't be angry. I did it for your own good."

_WHAT GOOD YOU SON OF A BITCH?! LET ME GO!_ Feather's muffled cries only fueled Belmont's sick pleasure. He gently brushed his gloved fingers across her cheek and leaned closer.

"So beautiful…" he murmured. "Just like your mother…"

Feather held back a growl of disgust and flinched as his eyes found hers and she could smell peppermint and tobacco on his breath. For once Belmont was silent, content with boring his sinister blue eyes into her chocolate ones. When she squeezed them shut, he chuckled and sat back in his seat. She smelled smoke as he blew out the match and she grunted wishing she could cough.

"No need to worry my precious darling. We're almost at our destination."

She opened her eyes once again only this time she did not search for Belmont's shadowy figure but for a window instead. Her eyes scanned the darkness searching for the smallest glimmer of light that would herald an opening. After a few minutes of fruitless searching, for her mind was still clouded by the chloroform, she saw a thin white line peeking through the darkness. When she tried to inch closer to the light she found that her legs were also bound. Cursing Belmont once again she lay still all the while staring at the small sliver of light on her right. It broke through the darkness, sending soft beams that landed gently on the blood red carpet beneath it. The glow gave her hope and she attempted to smile around the rag. A small jolt of happiness went through her when she succeeded. Suddenly the soft floor beneath her jerked and she gave a muffled gasped when she hit the wall behind her.

"Ah here we are. Spider will be pleased, we are right on time."

"Eh?" Suddenly her small sliver of light became a blinding explosion of light. She felt herself being lifted as she struggled to clear her vision. This time she was on her back and she quickly shut her eyes as the ceiling of the carriage brushed her nose. Then for a moment all of the appalling things that Belmont had done to her vanished. Her father's betrayal and her brothers' pain never happened; all her suffering was a distant, faded memory. All there was in Feather Firestone's universe was light, air, and the sky. She forgot about the dirty rag in her mouth and smiled. So crisp and clean was the air, so strong and beautiful was the sunlight! She sighed contentedly. Nature always found a way to calm her. She looked up to the baby blue sky and in a moment she was once again on her feet. Instead of the sky she stared at gloomy, gray cobblestones while her spirits plummeted. She lifted her eyes as muffled gasp escaped her bound lips as she surveyed the area. At that moment she noticed a foul stench in the air, urine mixed with alcohol and the smoke from dying fires. The streets were littered with bits of garbage and the poorest of the poor. Feather's heart went out to the families she saw, most fast asleep on dirty doorsteps in the early morning light. A few children were awake and they ran over to Belmont begging for money. She flinched as he slammed his cane on the head of a scrawny little girl. _She's around Tatiana's age…_Feather's eyes seemed to have a mind of their own as they continued to scan the shady neighborhood. Dark smokestacks reached up into the blue sky begging for release from this modern Hell. She cringed as she noticed the rotting wood and brick buildings that lined the streets, their once flawless walls soiled and destroyed. One word stood out in her mind, the name of this wretched place: _Soho_. London's very own red light district filled with deceit, murder, sex, and lost dreams. Then her eyes widened in horror and disgust as she turned to face the building she was being led into. A tattered sign hung in the doorway, the bright red letters seemed to mock her and her plight.

_This…this…this is--! _

"Ah I see you recognize the famous Red Rat!" Belmont chuckled when he saw the frightened look in Feather's eyes. "You guessed right, my dear. This will be your new home! Oh come now! You must hurry! We can't keep the Spider waiting…"

"Look behind the façade…" whispered the man standing in the middle of the darkened room. Feather's eyes widened as she took in his shaggy figure. His long hair hung low over his face reminding her of long spider's legs. His eyes were hidden behind large black sunglasses but she could feel his eyes roving over her, looking at her figure, searching for the slightest flaw on her tan skin. She noticed how ragged he looked, his beige trench coat was covered in mud and a few crimson stains…she quickly averted her eyes. They rested on the pitch black cane he held in his right hand. The handle was made of silver and shaped into a snarling wolf's head. The golden eyes of the wolf seemed to follow her as she was led closer to him.

"Good morning, Spider." Belmont said and bowed slightly before the ragged man.

"'Ello Belmont, you rich bastard," Spider hissed, a thick cockney accent present in every syllable. _Apparently nothing that comes out of his mouth will ever be pleasant_, thought Feather. She flinched as Spider continued his dark sunglasses now facing her. "This the gwel?"

"Yes. Her name is Feather Firestone. Her father was the drunk." Belmont smiled. Feather growled and rushed towards the old man. Suddenly strong arms had snaked around her waist, restraining her. She glared at Belmont and the Spider her eyes red with rage and bloodlust.

"A feisty one, eh?" muttered Spider, his dark gaze washing over her once again.

"Just like her bastard father when he was sane, of course." said Belmont almost to himself.

"No worries, mate. Won't take tha much trouble to break 'er." Feather's eyes flashed with fear and apprehension.

_Break me indeed! I'd like to see you try, you scum! Not even Mama on her worst days could take me down!_ She felt a pang in her heart as she thought of her mother. She wondered how her family was…did Cedric and Eldon recover from their injuries? Did Papa really mean to do this to her? What was the meaning of all this?

"See? She's surrendered already." Before she could react, Spider's dirty fingers had grabbed her chin, forcing her eyes to look into his dark sunglasses. She resisted the urge to shiver as she noticed spots of crimson red blood on his battered fingers and cut gloves. He smirked and suddenly she was on the floor again. She winced as she felt a boot making its mark on her back.

"Get outta here, Belmont. Go back to yer money. The gewl is mine."

"As you wish, Spider and remember…we had a deal." Blue eyes met chocolate brown as Belmont smiled. "Good-bye Feather, my dearest. I shall give your love to your family." She whimpered as Belmont walked out the door, chuckling as his men followed.

_No…_she thought desperately, _No…come back! I want to go home!_

"And now my lil…Featha was it? It's time…you work for me now and you WILL obey every command you're giv'n." He roughly untied the rag around Feather's mouth and she spat it out. Then his disgusting hands were in her hair, twisting it and making her kneel before him. She bit back a cry of pain. He grinned and her eyes glittered with fury.

"You'll never have me." She growled, ignoring the sudden dryness in her throat, "Never!"

"We'll see 'bout tha' my dear." Spider snarled, "I wai'nt jokin' when I said I could break you!"

"Well we'll see about that, Spider!" she hissed. "You look as though you could hardly break bread let alone a girl like me!" SLAP! Feather held her cheek which bore the red mark of her captor's hand. They glared at each other, one look murderous the other defiant.

"You'll pay, Feather Firestone…you will pay dearly!" Spider grinned menacingly and to Feather's horror he grasped the head of the wolf and pulled from his cane a long silver sword.


End file.
